Asus Eeepc Windows XP
by beck ~ May 15th, 2008. Filed under: Microsoft, XP, internet, laptop, windows.At the weekend I decided to get an Asus Eeepc. It was not a totally on the spot purchase, I had been thinking of getting one for a while but never had the money before but now I do, so I did 
If you have not heard of an Eeepc before, it is a very small laptop with a 7″ screen (unit itself is a little bigger than a DVD case), 4GB hard drive, wifi and the usual ports plus an SDHC card slot if you need extra storage. Right from the get-go I knew I would not like the provided operating system - a tabbed version of linux. I have never liked Linux no matter hard I try, so the plan was to buy and install Windows XP home on it. Asus do support the installation of XP onto the system, they even put handy instructions in the manual on how to do it. It was not hard but with the lack of optical drive in the Eeepc, you do need some form of external storage to install it from. I did also purchase a slim USB DVD writer which was perfect for the job.
The installation went smoothly with no problems at all. The Eeepc is not a beefy laptop, with a 900mhz processor (clocked to just under 700) and 512mb ram it has ample power for the provided linux, but as we all know, XP is a bit more power hungry. So I have ordered a 1GB ram stick from crucial at the cost of an additional £18. I have also ordered an 8GB SDHC card for extra storage as after the installation of XP, there is little over 2GB left over. You can reduce the space taken up and the performance of XP but following this fantastic guide on XP with the Eeepc - http://www.i64x.com/eeexp.php
So the breakdown of cost so far:
Asus Eeepc - £249
External DVD writer - £79.99
Windows XP home - £55
1GB ram - £18
SDHC 8GB - £18
That is a grand total of around £420. Now I am sure many will say I could have got a beefier laptop than that including vista home premium for the money, but I could not get one for this size and the fact that it is so light. Actually that is a small lie, I could have got the Packard Bell Easynote or the Everest, (which are the same but slightly re-branded) but I saw the Packard Bell one in a store and the screen looked horrible and it had the worst touchpad ever in the history of touchpads. I kid you not, this touchpad was about 1cm x 1cm above the keyboard. Terrible.
But anyway, back to the Asus, fantastic little machine but do make sure if you want Windows XP on it you get yourself one of the models which allows for upgrading the ram otherwise it will be a little on the slow side.
UPDATE: The 1GB ram stick arrived this morning and now XP is very zippy, definitely worth the upgrade if someone is considering putting XP on an eeepc.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Glad your having fun with it. I saw one a couple of weeks ago after a friend picked one up
I know you’ve just got that one but there is an improved model on the way with XP already loaded
http://uk.gizmodo.com/2008/04/16/asus_eee_pc_900_with_xp_and_bi.html
May 16th, 2008 at 9:20 am
HI Andy, great to see my spam bin has finally learned who you are!
I thought about the new one coming out, then I thought they would end up hard to find for 6+ months, so I discounted that idea.
Yes I ended up paying more but all was covered in the advertising renewal I was given, so am not out of pocket.
My only gripes with it (and they are minor) is that firstly it does get very hot undermeath moreso than my normal laptop and secondly the touchpad is not that great and could do with being a little more sensitive. I could probably change this in the settings though.